Abstract
Is the effect of labour reallocation on aggregate labour productivity growth less than the effect of real productivity? A robust finding in meta-analyses by Bartelsman et al. (2004) and Paǵes et al. (2008) is affirmative. These studies rely on productivity decompositions to produce such patterns of growth. In this paper, the question is answered using Baily et al. (1992)/Foster et al. (2001) on the Eswatini manufacturing micro panel dataset covering a trade liberalization period of 1994-2003. The influence of technical efficiency (-4.88%) is subordinate to the Baily et al. (1992) labour reallocation effect (0.38%) and to the Foster et al. (2001) labour reallocation effect (3.53%). These results are invariant to value-added deflation choices. It is therefore concluded that the sector experienced dominance of the labour reallocation on aggregate labour productivity growth relative to technical efficiency during trade reforms and this policy implications. Policy options for t